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Viz July Manga

July Graphic Novels:
BAKUNE YOUNG, VOLUME 3 — Creator Toyokazu Matsunaga's English-language debut, Bakune Young is a savage satire of ultra-violence, drawn with intense detail, black humor and special effects. Now karmic retribution has fallen upon Bakune; lying comatose in a hospital bed after the hostage massacre, he seeks redemption—-or at least someone to change his diaper. Meanwhile, the psychic/psychotic daughter of the leader of the Yakuza, Mistress Renge, plots to single-handedly invade and take over an American aircraft carrier, in a megalomaniacal bid to start a war between the U.S. and Japan. Can the disembodied mind(lessness) of Bakune stop her?

BASTARD!! VOLUME 1 — Based on the retouched Bastard!! Perfect Edition, recently released in Japan, rather than the original, older graphic novels, Bastard!! has been cult hit in American fandom for years and now the famous manga finally comes to America in graphic novel format—-with a never-before-translated afterword by Hagiwara. The kingdom of Metallicana is under attack, besieged by the dark forces of four evil armies sweeping the world. As orcs and giants besiege their citadel, the desperate defenders turn to a legend that a virgin's kiss may awaken “Dark Schneider,” an ancient evil wizard sealed within the body of Lucien, a seemingly normal 14-year-old boy. Yoko, Lucien's teenage stepsister, does the deed and as the castle falls, Lucien metamorphoses into a silver-haired demigod! Dark Schneider, the chaotic, lecherous wizard, has returned, only barely restrained by the magic that forces him to obey Yoko. But a world of demons, dragons, and the four evil generals awaits him...and bloodstained Metallicana may never know peace again.

DRAGON BALL Z, VOLUME 9 — Goku and Captain Ginyu—-trapped in each other's bodies due to Ginyu's mind-swapping powers—-fight it out to the end! Meanwhile, Kuririn and Gohan use the Dragon Balls to summon the true Eternal Dragon and wish Piccolo back to life, but the evil emperor Freeza has discovered how they tricked him to get the Dragon Balls and rushes across the planet to punish the fools who stole HIS wish! Together, Kuririn, Gohan and Vegeta—-and Piccolo??!—-must fight Freeza, the deadliest fighter in the galaxy!

GUNDAM: THE ORIGIN, NO. 2 — The graphic novel premier of famed Gundam character designer Yoshikazu Yasuhiko's unique take on the original Gundam saga! The Federation carrier White Base departs Side 7 with the Gundam, Amuro, and a group of unruly refugees aboard. Charged with the task of getting the Gundam to Earth, can the White Base and its skeleton crew of inexperienced civilians outwit Zeon ace pilot Commander Char Aznable?

MEDABOTS, VOLUME 1: A BOY AND HIS BOT — The series' first English-language graphic novel! From backyards to playgrounds to stadiums: kids and their pet robots called Medabots compete against each other in Robattles, hoping to ultimately earn the title of World Robattle Champion. Medabots are robots armed with an A.I. and an impressive collection of weaponry ready to Robattle and win! In fact, the more a Medabot battles, the more powerful it can become...and the more it stands to lose. Medabots that lose a battle yield some of their Medaparts to the winner, so every battle counts! Currently airing on the Fox Kids network and available as toys from Hasbro, Medabots has experienced increasing popularity since its debut.

RANMA 1/2, VOLUME 20 — Genma receives a letter in the mail one day from none other than Ranma's mother…and she's coming to visit! In a state of panic, Genma tries to flee with Ranma in tow, only to be stopped by Soun. Why is Genma so terrified of his former wife? Maybe it's because he promised her that Ranma would grow up to be the manliest of men or face seppuku (ritual suicide)!

REVOLUTIONARY GIRL UTENA, VOLUME 2: TO PLANT — Jealous of Utena's abilities, Juri faces off against her supposed rival in another bizarre duel. But against Juri's superior skill, it will take a miracle for Utena to beat her. Then, Utena has become good friends with Miki, another member of the mysterious student council. But due to the manipulations of the enigmatic entity known as World's End, Miki chooses to challenge Utena to a duel despite their friendship! The amazing manga predecessor to the hit animated series, Revolutionary Girl Utena is one of the most successful combinations of rare talent in manga history with veteran shôjo artist Chiho Saito and story by artist group BE-PAPAS.

July Comic releases:
BASTARD!! #8: FIGHTER!!, PART 3 of 3 — Unable to defeat Dark Schneider with her magic, the magician-swordswoman Kai Harn lets loose the dreaded cockatrice, whose touch can turn flesh to stone! But the clueless personality of Lucien Renlen reasserts itself just when Dark Schneider least needs it, leaving him lost in the dark woods in a cape and robes several sizes too big for him. Each issue also includes contests, fan art, heavy metal CD & RPG reviews, and more!

CERES, CELESTIAL LEGEND, PART 3 #2 — Word gets out about Yuki and Hayama's student/teacher relationship and Yuki blames Aya for the secret getting out. Celestial tempers flare as Yuki bombards Aya with her pyrotechnic fury. Yuhi and Toya protect Aya until she finally transforms into Ceres to take care of business!

DRAGON BALL Z, PART 5 #7 — Goku's fight with Freeza continues…On the ground and in the air, Goku and Freeza battle mightily, tearing up the landscape with nuclear-strength punches. But as Freeza says, he's just warming up. In fact, as he tells Goku after they fight to a standstill, he's fighting at
less than 50% of his full power! Author and artist, Akira Toriyama, originally planned this to be the climax to the series, and it shows with the most intense DBZ battle scenes yet!

INU-YASHA, PART 6 #15 — While everyone else has disappeared into their different worlds of various illusions, Kagome is the only one left when she is confronted by Kikyo, who takes her piece of the Jewel of Four Souls. Then, it's a wake up call for Inu-Yasha who snaps out of his hallucinated state…but whose aid will he come to?

MEDABOTS, PART 2, #3 & #4 — In Issue #3, Dr. Aki, the father of the Medabots, is about to announce the creation of a brand new Medabot but the Rubber Robo gang are up to something and so is the mysterious Phantom Renegade. Could they be working together? In Issue #4, Ikki and Metabee vs.
Koji and Sumilidon! Will they finally settle all grudges and find out who is the better Medafighter? Will Koji ever stop being so ridiculously protective of Karin?

NEON GENESIS EVANGELION, PART 7 #3 — The mighty Angel Zeruel continues its advance, dismembering and decapitating Asuka's Eva Unit-02! As his fellow pilot feels the horror from the entity she is synched to, Shinji learns from Kaji the ultimate goals of NERV's would-be puppet masters, SEELE. Will it be knowledge enough to get Shinji back into his Eva? Two versions will be available—-the regular Neon Genesis Evangelion or the Special Collectors' Edition, printed in the original right-to-left Japanese format with Sadamoto 's original sound effects and translation glossary!

POKéMON ADVENTURES, PART 7 #4: LANCE'S CHARGE — Lance is the greatest Pokémon trainer of the Elite Four, and the only thing standing between him and his insane dream of exterminating humanity is Yellow, a Doduo, a Raticate, an Omanite, a Graveler, a Caterpie and a Pikachu. Six unevolved Pokémon against the fiercest power in the world! Can anyone help Yellow?

RANMA 1/2, PART 11 #5 — Akane witnesses something she'd rather not between girl-type Ranma and Ryoga. Will Ryoga be able to pull himself out of hot water with Akane over this big misunderstanding? What a mess! The pseudo love triangle continues from one of the most outrageous manga series ever!

SILENT MÖBIUS: BLOOD, PART 11 #1 — With Lum Cheng settling in to the A.M.P. and Yuki recovered from her injuries, the A.M.P. is back in full force. Rally Cheyenne is making preparations for what could be the A.M.P.'s final battle against Nemesis. Meanwhile, Ganossa is making preparations of his own—readying a force of 199 megadynes and attempting to reactivate the cyclotron from the Gaia Project.

THE BIG O, PART 2 #1 — Even with a massive hole punched in its chest, Dorothy Two, Dorothy's giant "sister" robot, still functions—and the criminal Beck is behind the controls! Violently wresting control from Dorothy's creator Timothy Wayneright, who designed the android in the image of his lost daughter, he fuses Dorothy to the mainframe of Dorothy Two, taunting Roger Smith to destroy one if he wants to destroy the other!

VAGABOND #9 — In the aftermath of his battle with the Yoshioka school, Musashi's old friend and spiritual guide Takuan nurses Musashi back to health. Although Musashi is preoccupied with perfecting his swordsmanship, Otsu is increasingly beginning to occupy his mind. Will Musashi choose to be
reunited with Otsu or will he continue his solitary journey towards enlightenment by way of the sword?

Travel back in time (and maybe have your gender swapped) to seven different periods of Japanese history, all from the comfort of your couch.― The history of Japanese civilization is expansive, predating the Common Era by 10,000 years (the Jomon period). There's much more ground to cover compared to what kids get in U.S. history classes in high school, which rarely cover anything before the Boston T...

Junji Ito's death-stench horror gets the deluxe treatment with a new hardcover omnibus, but the subject matter might not work for everyone.― Junji Ito is inarguably one of the masters of horror manga, utilizing both horror (physical revulsion) and terror (psychological reaction) to create gut-churning tales of the world gone mad. To a degree, he carries this out in his two-volume series Gyo from 200...

Voice actor/director/professional Dungeons & Dragons player Liam O'Brien returns to the podcast after a 5-year hiatus to discuss his roles in Fate/Zero and Sailor Moon, along with the landscape for anime voice acting now and what it's like to be Gollum.― ANNCast Episode 234: Podcastoes O'Brien Get the Flash Player to see this player. Voice actor/director/professional Dungeons & Dragons player Liam ...

If you went to an anime convention this summer or have used the internet lately, you may notice anime fans seem to have fallen in love with Steven Universe. Why? Because the show loves them right back.― If you've been to an anime convention in the past year, you've probably seen colorful, gem-studded cosplay like this filling the hallways. Photo credit links: top left, top right, bottom left, bottom...

If you've got questions for the director of the high-flying fantasy series The Pilot's Love Song, we've potentially got answers for you!― We've been given the opportunity to interview The Pilot's Love Song director Toshimasa Suzuki, and we need your help! NISA, who will be releasing the fantasy action drama The Pilot's Love Song on bluray September 22nd, asked for fan questions for Mr. Suzuki, whos...

Bee-Train's 2001 girls-with-guns classic returns on Blu-Ray, and holds up surprisingly well, despite some mediocre animation.― Not all older series deserve the Blu-Ray treatment. For some it is because the show just isn't as iconic as people might like to think, while for others it's because the quality was never BD worthy in the first place. Noir, fortunately, does hold up well enough that its tran...

Egypt Arc is JoJo in peak condition, as memorable and engaging an adventure as you could hope for. JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is back.― When we last left our heroes, they'd just arrived on the shores of Egypt, escaping the literal jaws of defeat in order to finally save Jotaro's mother. The journey there had been a lengthy and sometimes inconsistent one, with their various adventures indeed being plen...

The creator of the hit manga, recently adapted into a popular anime series, talks about her inspirations, how she got her start, and what it's like to watch your manga become a TV show.― As you might guess from the story, the main character of the story is a high school roughneck named Ryu Yamada. Yamada meets cute, quiet, and studious Urara Shiraishi, who is his complete opposite in almost every wa...